Latino Crime and Latinos in the Criminal Justice System: Trends, Policy Implications, and Future Research Initiatives

2012 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 31-40 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jacob I. Stowell ◽  
Ramiro Martinez ◽  
Jeffrey M. Cancino

2016 ◽  
Vol 63 (2) ◽  
pp. 210-229 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jonathan W. Caudill ◽  
Chad R. Trulson ◽  
James W. Marquart ◽  
Matt DeLisi

Technological advances have enabled criminal justice organizations to collect and share offender data. Accompanying these advances are concerns about how various segments of the criminal justice system utilize these data. Specifically, scholars have expressed concerns about the legal consequences of being included in gang databases. This study explored the use of gang affiliation indicators on prosecutorial outcomes by using a sample of 5,111 urban juvenile cases. Using three binary measures of gang affiliation, multinomial logistic regression analysis suggested indicators of gang affiliation influenced prosecutorial outcomes (dismissal, pre-adjudication informal supervision, deferred prosecution, or petition), but in an unanticipated manner. Confirmed gang affiliates, instead of suspected or non-gang affiliates, were significantly more likely to experience pre-adjudication informal supervision over other forms of case outcomes: case dismissal, deferred prosecution, or court petition. Policy implications focus on the inter-connectedness of the criminal justice system.



2019 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 291-319 ◽  
Author(s):  
Megan C. Kurlychek ◽  
Brian D. Johnson

Research on inequality in punishment has a long and storied history, yet the overwhelming focus has been on episodic disparity in isolated stages of criminal case processing (e.g., arrest, prosecution, or sentencing). Although theories of cumulative disadvantage exist in criminology, they are seldom adapted to account for treatment in the criminal justice system. We provide an overview of the concept of cumulative disadvantage in the life course and review evidence on the development of cumulative disadvantages across stages of the criminal justice system. In doing so, we appraise the empirical research on policing, prosecution, and the courts and consider how these largely separate bodies of scholarship are inherently connected. We conclude with a call for future research that focuses more explicitly on the ways that life-course disadvantages shape contact with the criminal justice system and how these processes work to perpetuate patterns of disadvantage within the system and in subsequent life outcomes.



1986 ◽  
Vol 32 (4) ◽  
pp. 518-544 ◽  
Author(s):  
C. Ronald Huff ◽  
Arye Rattner ◽  
Edward Sagarin ◽  
Donal E. J. MacNamara

Few problems can pose a greater threat to free, democratic societies than that of wrongful conviction—the conviction of an innocent person. Yet relatively little attention has been paid to this problem, perhaps because of our understandable concern with the efficiency and effectiveness of the criminal justice system in combatting crime. Drawing on our own database of nearly 500 cases of wrongful conviction, our survey of criminal justice officials, and our review of extant literature on the subject, we address three major questions: (1) How frequent is wrongful conviction? (2) What are its major causes? and (3) What policy implications may be derived from this study?



2019 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 110-135
Author(s):  
Martin Mindestrømmen

A proposal for the revision of the rule regulating involuntary psychiatric treatment of criminally insane offenders has been accepted by the Norwegian parliament. As a result, greater emphasis will be placed on the requirement of ‘danger’ in future decisions on whether criminally insane offenders shall be subjected to sanctions. This paper gives an overview of the rule in question and makes a preliminary analysis of the legal contents of the danger requirement. Possible problem-areas that have not been addressed in the proposal for revision are identified. The need for future research is explained.



2021 ◽  
Vol 23 (1) ◽  
pp. 53-62
Author(s):  
Stefanie Oliveira Antunes ◽  
Verity Wainwright ◽  
Neil Gredecki

Purpose This paper aims to provide an overview of current suicide prevention across the UK criminal justice system (CJS). It considers shortcomings in current provision and how improvements could be made by drawing on international practice. Recommendations for practice going forward and suggestions for future research are made based on the literature. Design/methodology/approach This paper provides an overview of suicide prevention research to date. Relevant literature was identified through a basic journal article search, including terms such as “probation”, “criminal justice system”, “suicide”, “suicide prevention”, “UK” and “suicide theory”. Findings This paper highlights opportunities to improve practice based on the current evidence base, making several recommendations and suggestions for practice, including improving multi-agency cooperation through clearer distribution of responsibilities, simplifying data sharing and investing in trauma-focussed suicide training for staff. Practical implications This paper considers how research and psychological theory has informed suicide prevention practice in the UK. Limitations and challenges in applying theory to practice are explored, in the context of research with frontline staff who use such policies. This review proposes potential improvements to suicide prevention implementation to reduce suicide across the wider CJS. Originality/value This article represents an overview of the existing literature as well as possible future ideas for policy. It is therefore a piece that represents the viewpoint of all involved authors.



2018 ◽  
Vol 33 (5) ◽  
pp. 830-854
Author(s):  
Larissa Saco ◽  
Danielle Dirks

The criminal justice system and the media perpetuate the rhetoric of closure, which frames the end of grief for homicide survivors, or murder victims’ loved ones, as an attainable goal on their path to healing. Public discourse has also framed the death penalty as justice for survivors. However, little scholarly attention has addressed survivors’ experiences and perceptions of closure and justice. This research addresses this gap in the literature using in-depth, qualitative interviews with 36 community, academic, and criminal justice experts on homicide survivorship, 12 of whom are homicide survivors themselves. Using grounded theory, we derived six themes on closure and justice from the data. The majority of respondents indicate that survivors do not experience closure, and that they consider the term misleading. The question as to the meaning of justice produced more disparate responses. While many indicated that justice has unique meanings for individual survivors, holding the perpetrator accountable emerged as the most common theme. Half of the respondents also indicated that justice does not exist in homicide cases because of their difficult experiences with the criminal justice system. The findings have implications for policy, practice, and future research.



2013 ◽  
Vol 28 (6) ◽  
pp. 968-983 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bonnie Sue Fisher ◽  
Alyssa Kaplan ◽  
Mia Budescu ◽  
Jamison Fargo ◽  
Deborah Tiller ◽  
...  

Medical-legal-social science research has documented that nongenital and/or anogenital injuries play a significant role throughout the criminal justice system from victims reporting to judges determining the length of a sentence. What remains an open question is whether the documentation of anogenital injury influences women’s willingness to engage in the criminal justice system. A sample of women age 21 years and older residing in an urban area were asked about willingness to report to police, file charges, and work with the courts to prosecute after rape. Questions were framed with a qualifying statement about the forensic examination being able to detect injury related to forced sexual intercourse. Results show that women had a high willingness to act if the examination could detect anogenital injury and women with and without a history of forced sexual intercourse had significant differences in their responses to these questions. Implications for health care, criminal justice system, and future research are discussed.



2018 ◽  
Vol 29 (6-7) ◽  
pp. 527-535 ◽  
Author(s):  
Preeti Chauhan ◽  
Jeremy Travis

To date, the enforcement of lower level offenses and the criminal justice system’s response to these enforcement actions has received little scholarly attention. To address this gap in scientific research, the Misdemeanor Justice Project (MJP) commissioned nine scholarly papers focused on criminal justice responses to lower level offenses. Each of the papers in this volume is guided by one of four overarching themes, including officer discretion; the impact of lower level enforcement on individuals, communities, and institutions; pretrial detention and diversion; and court processing and legal representation. As a collection, these papers serve as a launching pad for the development of a body of research in a critical and opaque area of our criminal justice system as well as highlight areas for future research.



2020 ◽  
Vol 31 (9) ◽  
pp. 1286-1311 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel K. Pryce ◽  
George Wilson

Although the impact of procedural justice on citizens’ satisfaction with the police and other branches of the criminal justice system has been tested in several geopolitical contexts, this is the first study to examine the relative impacts of police procedural justice, lawyer procedural justice, and judge procedural justice on satisfaction with a country’s criminal justice system. To assess the universal applicability of procedural justice, scholars must carry out research in all geopolitical regions. However, sub-Saharan Africa appears to be a region that scholars have neglected for far too long. As a result, the current study assesses the relative impacts of three strands of procedural justice—police, lawyer, and judge—on satisfaction with the criminal justice system in Kenya. Using a sample of 523 students from a prominent Kenyan university, we found that all three strands of procedural justice predicted satisfaction with Kenya’s criminal justice system under the country’s new Constitution, although judge procedural justice exerted the strongest influence on satisfaction. Also, less highly educated students (first-year students, compared to sophomores, juniors, and seniors) and male students were more satisfied with Kenya’s criminal justice system. The study’s implications for policy and future research are discussed.



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